We had a great 2022 and it was our best year at Fruitfields so far. Winning the Three Counties Malvern Show with our apple juice and the district honey show with our honey meant a huge amount. We felt validated that our products were enjoyed and appreciated by other fruit and honey experts. It has provided us with a confidence boost about many of our processes as we continue to do everything possible to retain the quality and flavour of the raw product.

In the pictures below we were honoured to receive the best in show for our Worcester Pearmain/William Crump and Pitmaston Pineapple apple juice blended with blackcurrant. We also received Third Prize for the apple juice blend by itself.

     

At the District Honey Show we were again thrilled to pick up the Novice Trophy for our soft set honey. There was a very high standard of entries and it now means we are not a novice anymore!

Apple Juice Processing at Fruitfields

We mill our apples and a mash is produced and fills the grey buckets in the picture below. The mash is then put inside the middle of the hydropress. Under mains water pressure the mash is squished by the internal ‘bladder’ inside the press against the metal drum, pushing the resultant apple juice out of the small holes in the drum, down the outside to be collected by the green container. We then pour or pump the juice into holding tanks and barrels.

From the barrels we start our apple juice processing line. It’s a family business (!) and the apple juice bottles are washed and dried on the yellow tree and filled from the metal bottle filler before being pasteurised in our silver metal pasteurisers below…

 

  

The season

Despite no rain in July 2022 we had a great crop of most of our varieties of apple. We grow heritage varieties (mostly Worcestershire) and apple varieties which are good for juicing. We have a wonderful range from early apples like Redditch Doddin and Gladstone, mid-season apples such as William Crump, Worcester Pearmain and Pitmaston Pineapple and late varieties such as Ashmeads Kernel and our cider varieties.

We also grow apple varieties for our pink juice with names such as Tickled Pink and Red Devil and our Red Windsors can also be added to this blend.

Our honeybees have kept us busy as usual and we have enjoyed sharing them with c. 30 new potential beekeepers or those with an interest in these wonderful creatures during the 2022 year. We are looking forward to showing a similar number our honeybees through our bee experiences in 2023. We keep these experiences special by only have one or two persons at a time. You can learn and see so much more when you have our Fruitfields apiary to yourselves.  We had an excellent honey crop and our supers below were extracted as usual in the centrifugal branch extractor. 

 

An unforgettable Summer & Autumn at Fruitfields during 2022. The UK recorded some of the hottest temperatures on record during July & August and our fruit trees were stressed, having received minimal rain (it was the driest July since 1935). Late summer rain saved the crop.

Interestingly, it has been the best honeybee season ever. We had a settled spring with copious clover and early hedgerow flowers such as blackthorn and hawthorn. Our hives have good access to water and shade so our honeybees produced an incredible honey harvest.

We extracted our main crop of honey in early August and were pleased to enter a few jars into the local district honey show and we won the Novices section, so we are not allowed to be Novices anymore(!) or enter this section again and our winners trophy has been sent off for engraving

With the more recent funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and start of the reign of King Charles III, continued war in Ukraine and the threat of significant increase in the cost of raw materials (including glass for our glass bottles and jars) and utility prices current times are unsettled.

Therefore, it is reassuring to see the fruit crop come on as usual. We have enjoyed picking the Pitmaston Pineapples, Worcester Pearmains and the William Crumps which gave us a Medium Sweet blend & gained us a Third at the Malvern Three Counties Show. Our blend of this juice with blackcurrant received a First & Best in Show which we are still ecstatic about!

We have picked our Red Devils & our Tickled Pinks for our Pink juice which we are to process this weekend. 

The remaining apples of Sandlin Duchess, Edward VII and Bramley, combined with Ashmeads Kernels and the sweeter apples such as Red Windsor, Red Falstaff and Limelight and Egremont Russet make up our Medium Sharp which will be available from the end of October.

 

We loved the build up to Christmas & New Year and are delighted to be selling our apple juice through local stockists including:

Warwick’s Butchers, Barnt Green,

Blackwell Village Shop,

Burcot Garden Centre,

Willowbrook Garden Centre,

Melbicks Garden Centre,

Rowberry’s Garden Centre,

Alpaca Park Farm, Snarestone,

We hosted the 2nd Barnt Green Wassail on December 27th, 2018 and c. 70 community walkers came out to our orchards for mulled cider and apple juice. The crackling bonfire and pots and pans bashing & hanging toast & processing around the apple trees helped to wish their health for the year to come & thank them for their bounty for the previous year. The fire and music: consisting of both drums and melodeum made all the difference and we are looking forward to the next occasion at the end of this year.

We are working out what events we are to be attending during 2019. We will announce our plans once they are finalised. Do let us know if you like our apple juice and please follow and like our adventures on facebook and Instagram.

It’s only the second time in its history that the Upper Bittell Reservoir has been drained. This is so the bottom sluice and channel can be repaired. To be able to make the necessary repairs, an access track for HGVs has been created across the top of our fields. The works should be completed by May, 2018 and whilst the area will become a ‘site’ and closed to the public from Monday, 27th November we will have full access for the Barnt Green Wassail at our orchards on Wednesday, December 27th, 2017.